Saturday, July 26, 2008

I have been in contact with the Columbiana County Humane Society in Ohio. They have asked us to provide any assistance that we can, including taking as many Manchesters into AMTC Rescue foster homes as possible. The shelter told me that the seized dogs are purebred rat terriers, purebred Manchesters and Rat Terrier/Manchester mixes. The dogs range in age from 8 months to 8 years old. There was a litter of 4 week old puppies taken into the care of the vet who assisted in the seizure because they were not doing well. So far, about 120 dogs have been seized. They do not have an exact count because they are still trying to catch them. Some were living in the house, some were living in a kennel and some were living loose on the property. The loose ones are the most feral and difficult to capture.

I am writing to you to ask for donations to the AMTC Rescue fund and just as important, I need volunteers to foster as many dogs as possible. We can only take in as many dogs as we can house, so please contact me asap if you can help with fostering. Before we can take in any dogs, we need an experienced Manchester owner in Ohio to volunteer to go to the shelter and help them sort out the dogs by breed. We need to know how many purebred Manchesters are there and their sex and age. If you can assist the animal shelter and AMTC Rescue in this way, please email or call me immediately at amtcrescue@bleusprings.net or 585-335-8401.

More than one hundred and twenty Manchester Terriers and mixes are being housed at an undisclosed location, after being rescued from a home on Freemen Road near Lisbon Wednesday.

"There were quite a number in the home, and the remainder were in outdoor kennels.", says Brenda Austin, from the Humane Society of Columbiana County.

Humane agents and volunteers are busy feeding and caring for the animals, in hopes most of them can find loving homes and owners. Some of the dogs, especially the young puppies are ready to be adopted right away. Austin says the rest of the animals will be sent to various rescue shelters throughout the area.

"People would have to understand that any of the adult dogs really need a lot of work, they're not used to people.", says Austin.

Unfortunately some of the dogs were so wild, they had to be put down.

"Some of our volunteers did get bit, so we put some down because of that, some medical, there were a couple in pretty bad shape out in the field, so they were euthanized by the veterinarian.", says Dean Vickers, Ohio Director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Vickers says the owner willingly relinquished the dogs. No charges have been filed but they could be coming. For now, agents can only guess why one home would hoard more than one hundred hounds.

"People just have a lot of animals sometimes that they think that they love, or they feel that they love, but unfortunately the standards of care become substandard at some point when they get overwhelmed.", says Austin.

It's unclear if the original owner will get any of the animals back. That's a decision that will likely be made by a judge in a court of law. If you're interested in adopting one of the dogs or just to donate supplies, you can call the Humane Society of Columbiana County at 330-332-2600. Humane Society of Columbiana County has also set up a temporary office in Salem to collect supplies, food, donations. Agents say this is their largest single rescue ever, and the most expensive as well.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Last night one of Therese's friends received a phone call from someone that found a cage with 3 ''min pins'' on the side of the road in Sorel, Quebec (just south west of where they were taken!!). After confirmation, they are 3 of the missing TMTs! 2 older males and 1 older female.

This was an email confirmation from Therese:

I am home now at 9:50pm with my three stolen dogs. The Toy Manchester's were my old Man Goofy (10 1/2), Munster (7 1/2) and Female Trouble (5). They are happy to see me and kiss me.

Now they are with me and Munster back on his chair and Goofy asleep with Trouble, they look calm but so nervous from what's happened to them.

I will pray to get back my missing dogs: Lucas, Scarlett and the young Star. I will pray to see them too.

Friday, July 11, 2008

So pups...what did you think of "America's Greatest Dog" last night? I have to admit...I was a bit disappointed.

One owner repeatedly telling her dog to "shut-up" when barking....we all know that NEVER works! BOL! Another owner ready to "freaking lose it" when the other humans want to pet her dog..then forcing her dog to perform tasks it obviously doesn't quite understand how to do...

The owners getting so into the competition, they stress their dogs out...then the first contestant, Michael and his cute Boston Terrier Essie, crying when he's getting kicked off.

I know..it's not the best feeling to be the first to go...but this show just seemed.....like it was staged too much for human drama rather than showcasing amazing dog talent.

I will say, I did like the fact that there was diversity of both dogs and handlers...that the show seemed to try to grab every demographic. You can see the love that the humans have for their dogs...but I just hope in competing for money...they don't risk losing their true bond and friendship with their dogs.

Will I watch again?? I might..just to see if the show gets better.....or sadly, worse.

Coming in 2009 (awwww....too long to wait!!) is a Pawesome new movie called Hotel for Dogs!It's about 4 young kids who find an abandoned hotel and decide to rescue pups from the street (and the "evil" dog catchers) and keep them at the hotel!!

Monday, July 7, 2008

So I had a pawesome weekend! I spent yesterday at the Kawartha Kennel Club dog show in Peterborough, Ontario.

The CMTC (Canadian Manchester Terrier Club) was having a booster there, so HM brought me along to help man the CMTC info booth at the show! What a pawesome time!! I got to sniff a lot of dogs, and the best part???

I was reunited with my doggy parents!! Jazzy (mom) and D'Artagnon (dad)!!

me and my doggy dad, D'Art

family reunion!

D'Art was competing and made it to the Best of Group for Terriers!!! Whooo-hoooo!!!

My breeder was sooo happy to see me, she hadn't seen me in pawson since I was a little puppy! She says I grew up to be a handsome dog! (awwwww!!).

family reunion!

The CMTC had a donation jar and did a 50/50 draw to help raise some money for Therese and her 6 stolen TMTs. The man who won the draw was gracious enough to donate it back for Therese!!!